No Need to Hide
by whitecrowdown
Summary: In an attempt to purge the world of the mutant disease,Lucas Hartland unleases a deadly bacteria on america.Only one can save them all,but will Magneto get his hands on her first?It's up to Nightcrawler&the X-Men to uncover the truth.Mature content.R&R:
1. Lonely and Lost

* * *

WARNING-MATURE CONTENT. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

_**Darwin's theory of Natural Selection-  
-A species will mutate to adapt to their surroundings in order to survive. This process occurs over a long period of time, leaving the weak behind...**_

December 20th, 1990

Another inch of snow had blanketed the silent streets of Moscow. The hour had come for little ones to be put to bed and all good hearts to retire to their homes.

The night now belonged to the lonley and lost souls of the world now creeping from their nooks in the city, doomed to roam the streets of the night. Janika(YON-e-

ka) shivered miserably as she crawled out from under her newspaper covers. She wore a ragged old jacket that she had found left on a park bench six years ago.

Her gloves had many holes in them, one in which her thumb poked through. She carried herself very well for someone who had been on the streets for the majority

of her adult life. She brushed her once thick dark brown hair from her lips and out of her face and started out into the night. Her stomach ached painfully for a bite

to eat.

Janika crept unnoticed throughout the streets and into the alley ways, rumaging through various trash cans for bits of food that could cure her hunger pains. She

had become invisable to the world, making it quite easy to sneak about and steal the little she needed to survive. The world was clueless to her exsistance. Atleast

this was how it was until tonight. Tonight she had caught the wicked eye of someone in the shadows. Just as silently as she, he crept behind her-waiting for his

oppertunity.

Finally she had found a bit of food. She unwrapped a half of a frozen candy bar, her hands shaking from lack of food and the cold.

"Lost your way, lovely?" a sort of growl seeped out from the shadows and caught Janika's attention. She jumped, starteled and surprised. She looked around

nervously, her crystal blue eyes darting from shadow to shadow. A chuckled followed the growl and from the shadows next to her emerged a very bulky and gruff

man. Janika let out a shriek. The man had the eyes of a wild beast and wore a very big heavy coat covered in fur. Janika was sure she was staring into the eyes of

a demon.

"No sir. I- I was just leaving.." She had already started to turn and walk away, but a strong haand took a hold of her arm, causing her to squeak at the pain that

his grip had created. Janika tried to mantain a cool head, though.

"What's your rush, lovely?" The man sniffed a few times. He roughly pulled Janika closer to him unti she was pressed uncomfortably against his chest. He them

sniffed her hair, breathing heavily into her ear.

"I'm not afraid of you..." she forced out of her now constricting throat. Again, he chuckled.

"Ah...I'm afraid you are...I smell your fear..." he whispered into her neck. Janika sqirmed now, no longer able to hide it. "I can almost TASTE it." he growled. Janika

knew she was in deep trouble now. The man suddenly wrapped his monster hands around her neck and lifted her off the ground. Janika kicked rapidly, scratching

at his hands as her lungs begged for air. He thrusted her into the wall, pinning her there a foot off the ground. She suddenly felt cold air hit her bare chest as she

realized he had ripped her jacket and shirt straight down the front, easier than a piece of paper. He ripped the top of her pants and they fell to the ground. She

shook now more of fear than of the cold. The man pressed himself against her exposed body and forced a kiss upon her. She felt his hands travel her body.

"There's no one who can save you. No one who cares. You're invisable..." he growled as he began to have his way with her. She weeped now...not because of

what he was doing to her, but because deep down she knew he was right...

* * *

September 7th 2008-The US

Kurt Wagner sat quietly in the office of Professor Charles Xavier, listening intently to the conversation at hand.

"I fear the U.S. government has been placed in a stalemate due to the recent uprising against mutant kind.The fear of the general public may have forced them to

start looking for solutions to the so called "mutant problem"." the Professor spoke diligently. Even though the topic at hand was a threatening and frightening one

for all in the room, he still managed to keep a calm air about the room.

"There is no mutant problem!" Logan corrected the Professor. He stood leaning against a wall by the door, arms folded and a scowl on his face. the Pofessor gae

him a slight nod.

"Try telling that to everyone else."Storm spoke up. She was a beautiful dark skined woman with kind eyes and white hair. Kurt smiled her way. He had always

had an attraction to her. The rest of the room sat quiet for a moment or two before the Professor spoke again.

"I recieved another visit from my dear old friend Eric. From the sound of it, he has already begun to get ahead of them all. He hinted toward a secret "weapon"

as he referred to it. It's under such strenuous lock and key, though, that he mention a secret weapon of his own to get his hands on it." The Professor continued.

"What is the weapon the government has?" Jean Gray questioned. The Profesor shook his head.

"I'm not sure yet." the room was once again quiet."However I have been able to guess at what Magneto's secret weapon may be"

Kurt decided to join the conversation. "Where can we find it?" he asked, his thick German accent extremley apparent.

"She...is in Russia."

* * *

September 8th,2008- Moscow, Russia

"You're so useless!" the fat and drunken man shouted at the top of his lungs. Nadja cowarded in a corner. Her long dark brown hair was curled and piled ontop

of her head. Her lips were painted a dark wine hue and her cheeks looked as if they had been pinched repeated. She wore a sheer robe over her boned scarlette

bodice and black panties. Tears were streaming from her bright purple eyes. She stared up at the man beggingly. "And don't look at me with those freakish eyes!

You know not to look at me!" and with this he grabbed her fragile arm and yanked her from the corner.

"Kasimir, please, I don't want to dance anymore!" She pleaded. the man, Kasimir, showed no mercey.

"You dance! Or else you go back into the streets!You want go back into the streets?" he shouted. Nadja shook her head furiously, tears still streaming down her

face. "Dats what i thought. Now DANCE!" and with that Kasimir threw her out his door. She headed, beaten, to the stage where four other girls were lined up. Each

in a similar get up. She stood in line with them and the curtain opened. Music played and the girls were met wih woots and hollars. As the the girls began to dance,

they pranced around stage teasingly. The men of the audience eyed them hungrily. Nadja was slower in her movements. She spun and dipped, allowing small hints

of regions no man should ever see with out some kind of connection or relationship. She fought the tears. One by one, the other girls were picked and lead off

stage to rooms in the back of the building. Nadja prayed no one wanted her. To her horror, however, a very shadey and lanky man with heavy facial hair stood up

and pointed to her. She stopped her dancing immediatly. She was frozen. She knew what she was supposed to do, but she couldn't move. "YOU!" the man

breathed as he moved closer to her. " You come with me." he ordered. Nadja still could do nothing. Kasimir come out from behind the curtains and grabbed her from

behind.

"You make me money!GO!" and with that he pushed her off stage and into the arms of the man. To her dismay, he smelled strongly of whiskey. Nadja wished she

was invisable...but she wouldn't do it. She swore she wouldn't do it.

She tried her best to fight him, but he was stronger. He drug her to a empty room in the back and slammed the door behind them. It was then that the front door

opened and a tall, brown haired man wearing red sun glasses entered the club, followed closley by Kurt. Immediatly, all eyes flew to them.

"Get out. No freaks in here!" Kasimir said, directed towards Kurt. Scott placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder.

"We're looking for a girl." Scott said. Kasimir approached them. "You want girl, you pay." he said angerly. "We're looking for a specific girl. Her name is Nadja"

"She's with client. You pick another girl." Kasimir shouted. Scott and Kurt now knew it would not be as easy as they had hoped. "Which room is she in?"Scott

asked cooly. Before anything else could be said, the words ,"WHERE DID SHE GO?" echoed from the center room.

"Guess we got our answer." Kurt said.

The man had pulled Nadja roughly into the room. She was terrified. He sat on the bed in the center of the room and leaned back on his elbows.

"You strip!" He ordered her. Nadja shook her head.

"YOU STRIP!" he repeated, but this time he threw a wad of money at her. It hit her in the face. She now allowed the tears to fall. She shuddered and felt her will

power fail.

"I am a failure..."she whispered. She took and deep breath and closed her eyes. In the next instant, she had vanished into thin air. She quickly shed her clothes

so that she was completely invisable and began to silently weep when the man jumped from the bed and began to frantically look around the room for her. She felt

so ashamed.

The man began to tear the room appart, literally, when a cloud of black dust appeared before the door with a slight wooshing noise. There stood a blue man...he

had black hair, yellow eyes and a tail like the devil. Nadja, dispite her invisablity, shrank back toward the corner in fear. The man stopped tearing up the room and

turned to the demon.

"What in the hell are you?" he screamed in terror. It made Nadja jump.

"I am looking for Nadja." Kurt answered, ignoring his rudness. Nadja's heart leapt into her throat.

"I paid for my time. You wait!" the man shouted. But Kurt just gave a sigh.

"Forgive me for this." The man was about to say something back, but Kurt reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a small bottle. Kurt sprayed a

mist of something in the man's face and before Nadja could take another breath, the man had fallen back onto the bed-out like a light.

Kurt sighed again, but then turned his attention to finding Nadja.

"It's okay, you can come out now."He encouraged her. Nadja trembled. "We've come to take you from this place." Kurt suddenly thought of how frightening he

must be. He had just barged in and knocked out this man and said that he was to take her away to god knows where. "Please, you can trust me." He figured this

would not make much of a difference to her but he felt he should reassure her anyway. There was silence for a moment, then a small voice came from the

nothingness.

"Where are you taking me?" Kurt smiled a bit.

"To America. I live at a wonderful place for people like us...a place of learning and acceptance. Would you like that?" He asked. he hadn't attempted to seek her

out, he would wait for her to come to him. Silence again.

"Close your eyes." she said. Kurt looked confused...then he noticed the pile of clothing on the floor and realized she was completely exposed.

"Oh...of course." Kurt felt heat rise to his cheeks as he closed his eyes. He was glad she wouldn't be able to tell he was blushing. Nadja didn't take a chance on

him seeing her in her naked glory. She put the bodice and panties back on before reappearing. "Okay..." she gave him the que to open his eyes. Though she was

not completely naked, Kurt still felt uneasy looking at her in her attire now.

"You must be cold. Would you...like my jacket?" Kurt took off his trench coat and held it out to her. Nadja blushed, embarrassed of what she wore and happily

accepted his offer.

"Now, would you like to meet my friend? We'll take you back to the jet and bring home with us." Kurt said opening the door. Nadja gave a small grin and Kurt felt

a small jump in his stomach.

* * *

okay! first chapter! Can I get a woot woot. I know there are a few things in here that are incorrect. I know that Kurt and Scott wouldn't imediatly be able to communicate with the russians because of that whole language difference thing, but I didn't really think anyone would look too much into it. I tried not to rush this chapter too much. I really want to just get the plot started. SO I apologize it you feel it was rushed at all. And lastly, sorry for the sexual nature of the first section with Janika. I know it seems a bit random and unneeded but, maybe you can figure out why it is important. If you know, Write it in a review and I'll give you a m&m cookie if you're right. It will be explained in the next chapter. thanks!-**Rooster**


	2. The Gifted And the Cursed

**Warning: this story in general contains Mature Content.**

**I do not own Xmen. Give props to the people at Marvel for that. YAY MARVEL!**

The sun shown bright through the wispy white clouds. The X-Jet seemed to slice through them like a knife through butter. Kurt sat in his chair-feet in the seat and

knees pulled tightly to his chest. Scott sent their current coordinates back home to the mansion and comfirmed the completion of their mission while Storm piloted.

"How is she?" Storm asked Scott, referring to the silent girl huddled in the chair behind her. Nadja's curls were a little frazzled now- random fly aways fraying

around her face. Her dark eye make-up left long, black tracks down her cheeks from the tears shed back in the brothel almost an hour ago.

"She's still a bit shaken, but she'll be fine. Poor girl."The last part Scott mummbled more to himself.

Nadja tried her best not to tremble from the fear that consumed her. She had never been on a plane before. She hadn't even been in a car. And to make things

worse, she had no clue where these strangers were taking her. All she knew was that they wanted to take her away from Kasimir, and anywhere was better than

with Kasimir. Kurt watched Nadja's nervous form jump with every bump of turbulence. His heart ached for her. How could anyone force women to do such things to

their bodies? And how does someone like her end up such a place?

"Nadja, May I inquire something about you?" Kurt had put his feet down on the ground, smiling warmly. Nadja turned to Kurt. Her eyes were sad now. They seemed

glassy and distant. Kurt knew she already knew what he wanted to ask.

"I came to Kasimir's care after my mother died. From what I understand she found his doorstep in the dead of night and he offered her a job. She'd been on the

streets for a long time and took the oppertunity for shelter. She apparently died giving birth to me. Kasimir raised me. To repay him for kis kindness, I worked for

him." Nadja felt that constricting tickle in her throat. She would not cry infront of them, though. She hadn't thought of her mother in a long time. She quickly buried

the thought.

"Where's your father?" Storm had put the jet on auto pilot to listen to her story. Nadja shrugged. She'd never really wondered.

Kurt adverted his gaze from the broken girl before him. He only knew her for about two and a half hours, but he felt sorrow for her as if she were his flesh and

blood.

"It must be hard to put faith in the hands of strangers. You'll be much happier with us at the mansion." Kurt began to swivel his chair back and forth playfully. Nadja

grinned at him. He had such an impish charm about him.

"But why did you seek me out? How do you even know about me?" Nadja asked.

"Well, I think the Professor can explain that better than we can." Scott answered. Nadja was disappointed at the lack of answers, but somehow she felt they were

telling the truth and her question would get answered.

* * *

September 8th-New York

Eric stood silhouetted against the setting sun above the city skyline. He thought of the lowly people that inhabbited the city- ignorant of the ever changing world

around them. They knew nothing of who he was or who ANY of them were.

"Monsters..." he thought aloud. That's all they were to them. It did not matter now. Somewhere in the world the weapon he needed sat-waiting for him to seize

his hold of it. And his dear friend, Charles, would be providing the key to it all. "If they want a war-" Eric heard heavy foot steps enter his chambers behind him. A

beast of a man stood in his doorway. "We will give them a war"

Sabertooth took a few more steps into the room and snarled in agreement. Eric turned on heel and grinned, hands placed in an offical mannor behind his back.

"Are you ready to meet your daughter, my friend?" Eric asked Sabertooth. He responded with a fanged grin.

* * *

Nadja had never seen anything like it! The mansion was so big and clean. The air was crisp and the people there were so happy and...different...like her. Some of

them openly used their powers as if it were...normal.

Storm, Scott, and Kurt escorted Nadja through the court yard and through the hallways of the school. Nadja felt so uneasy in Kurt's jacket looking as rough as she

did. The children did indeed stare. She lowered her head in shame, but a reassuring nudge on her shoulder and a grinning Kurt took the edge off a bit. Eventually,

the four came to an open room where the sunlight bathed the contents of the it in a pleasent gold. It was warm as well and Nadja started to feel slightly hot

beneath the heavy trench coat she wore but was in no hurry to take it off(she's had to show off her goods to many a stranger and had come to the conclusion that

she needed a break from it). There were several young people in the room and a bald man in a wheel chair. Each one's attention turn to them when they walked

through the door. The man in wheel chair smiled a smile that was just as warm as the room they stood in.

"Ah, good to see your safe return. And welcome, my dear. Could you give me just a moment?" He asked pleasently. He addressed the others in the room now.

Nadja felt Storm place a hand on her shoulder.

"You're in good hands now." she whispered. Nadja took a deep breath and tried to stand up as straight as possible.

"I would like your paper on Kennetic Energy on my desk by next Wednesday. Thank you and class dismissed." the man in the wheel chair nodded to all of his

students as each one got up and gathered their belongings. The Four of them took a few steps into the room to get out of the way of the exit. As each student

walked past them, most smiled or tried not to look straight at them. Nadja watched the last two stragglers.

One was a rather small girl with bright purple hair that was just below her ears and angeled towards her face. She wore slim fitting clothing of the brightess hues

Nadja had ever seen. She looked at Nadja quizzically and then looked at the man. The man nodded and the girl smiled. She trotted up to Nadja and held out her

hand.

"Hi. I'm Faydrey. From what I understand we'll be room mates." She had a very bell like voice. Nadja gave a faint smile and there was a slight awkward

silence."Well, i'm off to my next class.Welcome to Mutant High..." and she slipped past her and was gone. Nadja didn't know what to think about her. This was all

too much right now. The last one to leave was a very lean and tall boy with bright auburn hair and blazing eyes. He had just now gathered his things and headed

for the door. As he walked past he stopped for only a moment beside Nadja and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Nadja felt a slight shock when she

caught his gaze and it made her jump. And with that he continued on his way. Nadja followed him with her eyes before he disappeared around a corner. Kurt felt a

heat rise his chest when the boy had stopped and eyed Nadja. The heat grew even more when he saw Nadja watch him leave. He couldn't figure out why he was

feeling something like this. He pushed the feeling aside and focused on the task at hand.

"Nadja. I apologize for that. I was just finishing up a lesson. As I'm sure you've figured out, this is a school for the gifted and talented. My name is Professor Charles

Xavier. I founded this school for youngsters much like yourself." the professor intoduced himself. Nadja looked confused at the mention of "gifts and talents". She

never thought of herself as gifted. More like cursed.

"Is that the reason you've brought me here? How do you know me?"she questioned. The Professor only grinned.

"I have a gift as well, my dear. I have a talent for, reading minds, if you will. I found you in Russia and came to the conclusion that you may enjoy life here at my

mansion." He offered her a seat, which she took, but still had an apprehensive disposition.

"I've never attended a school or thought of myself as clever, but I find it hard to believe that that is the only reason. What else is there to the story?" The three

behind Nadja exchanged looks between each other and awaited the professor's explaination on edge. He still wore his grin.

"The world is changing, my dear. Panic has begun to spread through the streets like wild fire. The people are not ready to except us as one of their own. I believe

somewhere there is a machine that will somehow put a stopper to our exsistance under heavy lock and key. To be quite frank, I fear some would try to use your

talents to gain access to this machine and use it for their own wrong doing." The room went quiet after the Professor's explaination. Then Nadja shifted

uncomfortably in her seat.

"You keep calling it a "gift" or a "talent". I disagree. It's never brought me anything but pain." Nadja once again felt that feeling in her throat. She tried to hide it.

"Your mother was a very good woman, Nadja. She did what she thought was best for you. But the man who cared for you was not as pure hearted as your mother.

And he was most definetly not always right."Xavier sat still as a statue. Nadja was taken aback and now found it hard to hold the tears back."Your powers are

great. And you can learn to use them to your advantage. I can teach you...if you like." Nadja felt a tear roll down her cheek so she looked out the window to hide it

from everyone else. She didn't know what to think now. To her surprise, right now, she wished she hadn't left the brothel. Atleast that was something she was

used to. She felt her head would explode.

"I'm not..sure. I'd have to think about it." she answered.Xavier approached her, still smiling. "Well, be that the case, I will have Storm show you to your room.

Faydrey, like she said, will be sharing a room with you. I hope you two will get a long famously." and with that the professor nodded to his three pupils behind her

and left the room. Nadja was unsure of how she felt about the Professor now. She turned to the three she considered her friends now. They were the only ones

she had come to trust now in this new place.

"Would like me to show you to your room now?" Storm asked softly. Nadja just nodded. She got up and followed her out to her new place of residence, leaving

Scott and Kurt alone.

"Are you okay,Kurt? You look a little upset." Scott asked concerned. Kurt looked at him confused.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" he asked. He was almost defensive about it. Scott eyed him curiously. "I'm get a bit concerned about Nadja. That's all." and with

that he walked out. He didn't know if he made his case solid, but it's the truth. He knew she had a had a hard life and he just really wanted to be there for her.

Wasn't that his job anyway? He walked in the court yard to get some fresh air. Sitting on a bench he stared at a covered out door hallway and watched the

students bustle by. Suddenly he felt his heart skip a beat. He spotted Nadja and Storm on their way to Nadja's new dorm.

"It's only concern. I'm just concerned about her..." strangly enough, though, he was beginning to doubt himself...

* * *

yay. i hope this chapter ends up being okay. i wrote it with many distractions at the tattoo shop i work at. I tried to space it out right as requested in the reviews i recieved. Also, i've been trying to stray from the actual story line of the movie. You may note i gave kurt a little breathing room in the way of humor and "impish charm". This is because i loe the comic book Nightcrawler sooooo much.he's just a fun character. But since i placed this in the movie section i'm crossing the movie NC with the comic NC. I'm also adding characters that are not in the movie that think should have been. You've met one already. i hid a hint as to who he is in a certain section. Can you figure out who it is? Anyways, please review. I'm in need of critics. but be nice. i hate it when people are mean. I try very hard as do a lot of people on here and no on is better than anyone else. Burt I'm really excited for this story and I would love the encouragement. Thank you so much! -**Rooster**


	3. To my Readers

Hi there! It's Rooster. I just wanted to address my readers and apologize for the depressing and boring first two chapters. They were a necessity for the progress of the story. Like I said before I want Nightcrawler to be a happy and playful character and now that the majority of the gloom is out of the way, we can have some fun. Don't worry, if you enjoyed the suspense or what have you, there is more to come. However now we will have some emotional balance. So enjoy chapter three.

P.S.- I also decided to make Nadja younger than I originally planned. Nightcrawler(Don't hate me!) will be, about, 20. Nadja 18. It took a lot of thought, but I felt it had to be done. Please no flames! They make me sad:( 


	4. Agoraphobia?

It had now been two days since Nadja came to the mansion. She pent most of her time in the dorm with Faydrey. Truth be told, she never really ventured out

doors much her entire life. She was used to four walls encasing her and the lack of confinement, you could say, frigthened her.

"Agoraphobia." Nadja heard Faydrey's voice carry from the corner desk where she sat pouring over large books and note cards. Nadja sat on her bed, which sat

beneath the dorm room window over looking the court yard. She redirected her attention from the window to Faydrey.

"I'm sorry?"

"Agoraphobia. Fear of open spaces. I think you may have it."Faydrey dropped her pencil and spun around in her chair to face Nadja.

"What makes you say that"

"There hasn't been a single time I've come back to our room and haven't found you here. I never see you outside. Either you're extremely sheltered..."Faydrey got

up and joined Nadja on the bed. "Or you're Agoraphobic"

"Can't it be...a bit of both?"Nadja gave a weak smile. Faydrey returned it, but looked as if she were trying to figure something out.

"You have a pretty accent. Where are you from?"

"Russia."Nadja answered. Faydrey gave a "wow" and sat for a minute staring at her.

"You know? I have have a pair of pants that would look great on you."Faydrey said. Nadja looked confused. She had been wearing clothing the school kept in stock

for run aways who show up on the door step and have few if any other clothes than the ones on their backs. Nadja looked down at her outfit. It really did nothing

for her figure.

Faydrey had begun to pull clothes out of her closet. Bright greens and blues, pinks and oranges were soon scattered across the floor as she searched for the pair

of pants she wanted. Nadja watched her curiously. Everyone there had some sort of power, but everyone else paraded their power. Faydrey had yet to expose

hers at all.

"Faydrey?" Nadja spoke timidly. Faydrey gave a "hmm?" but continued with her search. Nadja felt veryint the wrong to ask, but curiouslity got the best of her.

"What is your power?"

Faydrey turned around, smiling, a purple tank top in hand.

"Oh." She smiled and put her finger tips to her temple.Nadja noticed the iris of her eyes began to glow a bright green. Then, from what seemed to be thein air, a

butterfly appeared and began to flutter freely about the room. It landed lightly on Nadja's nose. Her eye grew big as saucers, then the butterfly disappeared into

nothingness. Nadja still looked confused.

"I project holograms. I just don't do I much because I'm not strong enough to do anything bigger than that.The Professor says I need to concentrait more-" Faydrey

tried to explain, but she was cut off by Nadja's surprise.

"The professor?" She sounded utterly shocked.

"Yeah. Before I came here I had ZERO control. There were holographic mice and snakes roaming our house all the time. Especially when I slept." Faydrey seemed to

recall the memories fondly. Nadja was still stunned.

"And the Professor helped you?"

"Yeah. My mom sent me here and for the first week it was just me and him working non-stop. He's really an amazing man. Says I have to much on my mind, though.

Ah! Here you go." She threw a pair of pants to Nadja.

Nadja began to think of the offer the Professor gave her. She didn't know what to do.

* * *

Kurt was rather bored now. He had found an old pack of playing cards laying around and decided to play solitair. After discovering he was no good at the game, he

began to build card castles. He wasn't doing so bad at that. Before long he had them stacked so high that he had to teleport ontop of the table to stack the last

few cards ontop. This was the difficult part, however. Kurt stood on his tip-toes, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth. He held his breath and, as if in slow

motion, began to lift his hands holding the last two cards to the top of the stack. He was almost there.

"Excuse me..." Kurt jumped at the sound of the small voice, causing the castle of cards to crumble to the ground, conquered by gravity. Kurt sighed, while Nadja, to

his surprise, gave a small giggle. Kurt smiled. That was the first time he had heard he make a single joyous sound since they met."I'm sorry. I, um, I just-what was

that you were doing"

"Oh, that was just me trying to appease my short attention span. Are you okay?" Kurt noticed now just how truely pretty Nadja was. She wore no make-up now.

Her skin was very pale which made her most prodominate feature, her bright purple eyes, stand out brilliently. Her luscious dark brown hair was now brush out

straight down her back and curtained her face. She apparently had barrowed a pair of bright yellow skinny-jeans and a gray t-shirt from Faydrey. She was

very,well,beautiful.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking." She began to pick up the cards on the floor. Kurt jumped and began to help her.

"You don't have to do that." Nadja just smiled at him.

"The truth is-" Nadja started. She handed the cards she had collected to Kurt and plopped down on the ground."I've been thinking about the professor's offer. All

my life I've been lead to believe my powers are bad...that I'm freak. But since spending my days here at the school, I see all these wonderful people...who are...just

like...like-"

"Like you?" Kurt joined her on the floor, sitting indian-style, hands on his toes. He grinned at Nadja, who looked taken aback. However, she returned the grin.

" You're just as wonderful as they are.And what's more, you ARE gifted. The professor has helped all of us to get closer to achieveing our greatest potential. I think

he'd be able to teach you things you never dreamed you could do." Nadja was silent. She seemed to do that a lot.

"So you think I should let him teach me? What if something goes wrong and he can't do anything with me?What if I-"Nadja's voice was filled with concern. She

looked around the room, hopelessly, as if the answer was hidden with in it.She then lowered her gaze.

"You are the way you are for a reason." Kurt smiled. He took both his hands and cupped Nadja's face, lifting her gaze to meet his. "Besides, your powers are very

useful. And considering the position you're in, it would be wise to learn how to defend yourself." Nadja stared into Kurt's bright yellow eyes. He was so strange. He

had the appearence of a demon, but he acted like a saint. And in his words, she found comfort and for once, a bit of strength. Nadja nodded. She would learn to

use her powers.

"You are aware of the loudness of your pants, aren't you?" Kurt laughed. Indeed, if you put them under a black light, there was no doubt they would glow. Nadja

blushed. "Faydrey said that I looked deliscious." She felt awkward saying it.

"Maybe we can take you to buy some more clothes."Kurt stood up and held out a hand to help Nadja up. She accepted. When she placed her hand in his, Kurt felt,

well,...happy.

"I don't have any money."She said, concern in her voice.

"Don't worry. We'll get it."

* * *

Okay, I know this one was short but I just wanted to give everyone a lighter chapter to recuporate from the last two chapters. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. It really makes a difference. It makes me want to write more. I have a few good ideas I want to put into this story, I just have tie it in. So please keep the love coming. :)-**Rooster**


	5. Check, but Not Mate

"I want my cut, Kasimir!" A tall and very thin woman stood before the large dark man behind the desk. Kasimir and Dashsa, one of his "employees", had been at

each other's throats all week. Dashsa had become tired of the poor pay she had been recieveing. Kasimir leaned back in his chair and flicked the ashes of his cigar

into the ash tray on his desk in front of him.

"There's no negotiation. You dance, you get money, you get cut of money. What you get what you get!" Kasimir went to take another long draw of his cigar when

Dashsa crossed the room. She slapped Kasimir across the face with as much force as she could muster. Kasimir dropped the cigar, unable to move from the pure

shock of what just happened. Dashsa now knew she had made a huge mistake. Kasimir jumped up from his seat and reached for Dashsa. She attempted to run but

tripped on the robe she wore and fell swiftly to the ground. Before she could attempt to crawl away, Kasimir wrapped his huge hands around the small neck of the

woman and lifted her off the ground. Dashsa was slammed aganist the wall with such force that what ever air was left in her was forced out. She scratched at

Kasimir's hands, tears falling from her eyes.

"My my, my friend. Are you certain this gentleman is no kin of yours?" a voice came from the doorway of Kasimir's office. Kasimir turned to the voice to see a very

strange man indeed. He wore a cape and a strange red helmet. Kasimir couldn't see whom the man had adressed. "He seems to have picked up a few of your

persuasive techniques with the ladies."

The man now entered Kasimir's office. Kasimir dropped Dashsa abensent-mindedly and she fell to the floor, gasping for air.

"Who are you? This room is off limits!" Kasimir began to approach the man, ready to attack, when the man the stranger had adressed earlier entered the room.

Kasimir stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the beast of a man.

Sabertooth stood behind Eric, a low growl escaping his throat. A wimper from Dashsa could be heard from the corner she had now crawled into.

"We're looking for a very special young lady. I believe she goes by the name of Nadja." Eric explained. Kasimir, unlike when Kurt and Scott entered his bar, made no

snide comment or discriminating tone. He merely shrank away toward his desk.

"She's gone. Someone took her away last week." It Kasimir took all the courage in his body to mutter those words. Sabertooth suddenly looked as if he were in a

murderous rage. Eric, sensing the change in his friend's disposition, lifted a hand to keep him silenced.

"Who came for her?" Eric asked, still just as calm. Kasamir started to panic.

"I don't know! Some freaks! I DON'T KNOW!" he screamed. He fell to his knees and started to plead. "Please...please that's all I know"

Eric slowly approached the now sniveling Kasamir. He knelt down to eye level with the man.

"Freaks...you say?" Kasamir nodded." Well, then..." Eric lifted a hand,causeing Kasimir to flinch. He felt a slight jerk in his left pant pocket and saw his metal Zippo

lighter fly to Erics open hand. Eric ignited the lighter and held it infront of Kasimir's face."We'll just have to look elsewhere...won't we?" Kasimir was sure that Eric

was about to light him on fire. He closed his eyes and waited for the heat...but it never came. Instead he heard his lighter snap shut and felt the end of Eric's cape

slap him in the face. Kasimir opened his eyes to see the strange man walking away. Kasimir took a sigh of relief. Eric stopped beside Sabertooth. He gave

Sabertooth a nod, then continued out the door. As Eric continued out into the bar a earh shattering growl could be heard, followed by a woman's scream. The

sounds of utter chaos- shattering glass, braking wood, screams, and growls- put a smile on Eric's face.

"Ah, Charles. Check, but not mate."

* * *

"You've mastered invisablity on your own. But I'm positive that you can manipulate the things around you to disappear just as you do. For example-" the Professor

and Nadja were in his office. Nadja's first lesson on her abilities made hernervous, but she found herself trusting the Professor more than when she first arrived at

the mansion."your clothing." Nadja blushed a bit.

"You think I can turn my clothes as well?" Nadja questioned. The professor nodded. Nadja thought of how easy it would be just to disappear and not have to worry

about undressing and losing her clothing. This was an appealing thought. "How?"

"The key to every mutants' power is concentraition. If you can imagine yourself as COMPLETELY transparent, it will be so." He explained. It sounded so simple.

Nadja was excited to try it. She stood from her seat and took a deep breath. She tried to think of her clothing and pictured it disappearing. She waited a minute

and opened her eyes...only to see that her shirt and and pants had disappeared. She screamed, loosing her concentraition. As soon as she screamed her top and

bottoms reappeared. The Professor had looked away, but chuckled. Nadja was now mortified.

"Try to picture yourself and the clothes next time. Maybe we should try objects first. So that you get the idea." He suggested. Knowing how senitive Nadja was, he

felt very sorry for her. He wasn't sure that she would make much more porgress today since she was so embarrassed. And he was right. Nadja tried to make an

apple disappear from three hours before the professor had to call it quits to get to his class.

Nadja felt a bit defeated after her lesson. She wondered aimlessly around the school pondering why she couldn't make the apple disappear. She stopped at a

window and began to stare out it. The sky was a brillient bright blue and the sun was very bright. Nadja wondered how it would feel to sit in the sun.

Before she knew what she was doing she was stepping bare foot in the grass of the court yard. It was brighter than she imagined and found it hard not to squint.

Her goal was to get to the tree in the middle of the yard. She slowly walked toward it, jumping every now and then at the occasional student calling to a friend or

bird chirp. Finally, she made it to the tree and sat on the ground in front of it. The sun felt so warm and pleasent on her skin. She had actually faced her fears by

herself and had conquered them. She was extremly proud of herself.

"Nadja?" she heard her name called across the yard. She was so taken aback she let a small scream excape her lips. She looked around frantically trying to find

where her name had come from, only to find Faydrey running toward her from a small group of friends. She wore a bright pink and blue polo with khaki pants. She

came over to Nadja and knelt down infront of her.

"I can't believe you're out here. Did you come out here by yourself?" Faydrey questioned. She was in utter shock. Nadja nodded, now grinning ear to ear. Faydrey

gave a shriek and hugged Nadja around the neck. Nadja was surprised, but returned the hug. She had rarly been hugged...it felt wonderful."Hey guys, come here"

The two she had been with followed her over and stood on either side of her. Faydrey helped Nadja up and introduced her.

"Nadja, this is Monica Hollins-" Faydrey pointed to a red headed girl with bright green eyes and very earthy toned clothes. She smiled and reached for Nadja's hand.

Nadja took it timidedly, but she still smiled. "And Remey LeBeau"

Nadja suddenly realized why Remey seemed so familiar. He was the strange boy who had stopped beside her the first day she arrived. She remembered how

awkward it was when he walked past her. She now regretted coming outside at all.

"It's nice to meet you, Nadja." Monica smiled. Nadja tore her sights from Remey and returned the smile.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you too." Nadja turned to Remy."And you as well, Remey." Remey gave her a crooked smirk. She had never noticed, up until now, how

intense his eyes were. They were so dark they seemd to be almost black. His hair was toussled by the wind. Nadja had to admit, he was very attractive. This only

made her eve MORE nervous.

"The pleasure is all mine, kid." he spoke in a cajun dialect. Nadja suddenly felt herself blush. Suddenly, Monica took a hold of Remey's arm.

"We're going to be late. See you later, Faydrey." Monica gave Remey a little tug and the two were off, but not before Remey turned to get one last look at Nadja.

Faydrey gave a "huh." kind of noise.

"What?" Nadja asked. Faydrey kind of shrugged and lead Nadja back towards the hallway.

"She just suddenly seemed to be in a hurry. I didn't see the need to be so hasty." she said. Nadja thought about how Remey had called her kid. It made her

stomach tie up in knots. Faydrey noticed the strange look on Nadja's face. "he's cute, huh?" Nadja was silent for a second. The two of them stopped when they got

under the awning of the hallway.

"well, yes. I've never felt like that before." Nadja smiled. "Come on. Lets get away from the sun. I've had enough of the out doors for today." Faydrey giggled at her

and they began down the hallway, leaving Kurt, who had rounded the corner just in time to hear the conversation, behind. Kurt had a hard time trying to catch his

breath.

"She's in love with someone else?" he whispered to himself. He kicked himself inside and turned back around, dropping the small daisy he was on his way to deliver

to Nadja's room.

* * *

_Hey everyone. Yay, new chapter. I'm starting to suffer form writers block but, yeah. I'm trying. Sorry for any grammer or spelling mistakes. I got very lazy when it came to that. So i apologize. I hope you enjoy this chapter and i also wanted to make a shout out._

_Everyone if you like mighty ducks and heavy drama stories, check out **clockedauthor21's** story What Can You Do. it wil keep you on the edge of your desk chair.lol.thanks guys. don't forget to review please. It keeps me writing._


	6. Nightmares

Cold...all Nadja could feel was the cold. It was dark. She tried to open her eyes, but the darkness remained matter how many times she blinked. She shuddered as small wave panick began to work it's way through out her.

"Where am I?" She whispered,greatly more afraid of who maight answer than the dark. "Hello?!?Someone please-"but suddenly the silence was slpintered by foot steps echoing through the suffocating black. They drew closer every second. Not wanting to find out if the foot steps belonged to friend or foe, Nadja crawled blindly away from the sounds's direction.

Nadja's body began to quake with a sudden fire as viscious images of pain, blood, and suffering. She screamed, as a pale blue sliver of light slipped across her face, now contored and twisted with agony.

The images were breaking through her vision. The darkness was gone and now replaced with them and no matter how many times Nadja blinked she couldn't make the images disappear. Now a tall slender shadow fell upon her ghostly white face-her hair a matted curtain.

"Whats-I-can't-" Nadja attemped to speak. Another flash- blank emotionless eyes starred blankly into nothingness, fleshed burned. Nadja could almost smell it. "I...it hurts!"

"Take her to Sector 11. Hartland's waiting..." The voice was muffled. Like Nadja were hearing it through thick walls.

"Can't...breath..."

Nadja tried hard to swallow the painful lump in her throat, but al she could do was sob.

Somewhere in the darkness, a bell like voice called to her through the void. Nadja heard it and tried her best to find it. To find the one calling her back to the light.

"NADJA!"

The flashes stopped-Nadja quickly examined her surroundings which seemed so strange now after what she had just seen moments before.

Faydrey sat on the edge of Nadja's bed, tears sparkling in the moonlight. The trees rustled lightly outside their dorm room. Nadja felt her forhead and found she'd been sweating.

"Are you okay?" Faydrey's voice cracked as she tried to contain her concern. Nadja sat up straight as a pin.

"Are you crying?" She asked as Faydrey brushed the hair from Nadja's lips.

"Yes! I heard you whimpering in your sleep and I came over to wake you up. You were whispering some...uh...very disturbing stuff."

Nadja grabbed a hold of Faydrey's waist and embraced her tightly, trying to forget it all.

"The pictures won't go away..."Nadja whispered into Faydrey's shoulder.

"What pictures?" Faydrey asked. She patted Nadja's head in the hopes of soothing her friend. Nadja tried to focus on taking deep breaths.

"I was in a very dark room...locked away. I didn't know how to-how-"Nadja closed her eyes and took a paindully deep breath. "There was a man...he came to take me away...he said 'Hartland's waiting' and someting about Sector 11."

Faydrey whiped away her own tears before turning her attention to her friend's.

"This sounds like something you might want to talk about with the Proffesor."

"i know." Nadja reached over to turn on her bedside lamp. Instantly the room was warm and comforting. In the dim light, she could see Faydrey's photos of her and her friends. Some Nadja knew, some she didn't. Brightly colored rugs and bed linens were accentuated by small fluffy plush animals. Nadja wished her side of the room were as comforting and cozy but she had no such things back home. Faydrey jumped up and grabbed a bag of potato chips from under her bed. She opened them and leapt back to Nadja's side.

"So, I'm assuming we won't be getting anymore sleep tonight. So...what do you think about Remy?" the question was so unexpected that Nadja nearly choked on her potato chip. Faydrey sat eagerly awaiting a response, munching on chips the entire time.

"Why would you ask me such a thing?" Nadja thought back to her first encounter with Remy. He certainly was attractive with his strange cheek and jaw bones, auburn hair that he nonchalauntly ran his fingers through, and deep red eyes. But Nadja really hadn't given him much thought.

"It's called girl talk and it can make all others things seem he's a total babe. You know who else is a total hunk? Marshall LeBlanco!" Faydrey's face seemed to shine at the very mention of the name.

"From history? faydrey nodded, an excited smirk playing across her face."He's okay, I suppose. Too much chin hair." Nadja grinned, too. Atleast talking about boys seemed to help her forget the dream."Thanks, Faydrey."

She felt faydrey pat her back. It was a strange feeling to not be alone. Nadja was used to insensitive and perverse strangers and women who cared only for themselves and how much money they had...now she had made atleast one friend. Faydrey munched on another chip.

"S'what I'm here for."

November 22nd-washington, D.C.

"Okay, Dom, how's my hair?" Bekah Steele, number one field reporter for channel 6 news flipped her strawberry locked to and fro, adjusted her blouse, and gave a anxious shudder. Dom, her camera man of three years, gave her the tumbs up. She'd always trusted him to tell her the truth...or else she'd had his head on a platter and his job on her self. The red Light on the camera came on and Dom counted down from three on his fingers before giving her the thumbs up. Bekah began her introduction for the camera. The two, along with a couple dozen other reporters teams ahd gathered therer in the nation's capitol to hear the latest from Congressman Lucas Hartland on the Mutant "Problem". As the forrunner of the Anti-Mutant campaign, his influence proved to be some to be feared by mutant kind.

The Congressman, followed closley by his number one confidant, Lewis Maynard, was met with a sea of sporactic flashes and many voices- each eagerly awaiting the chance to have their questioned answered. Hartland held up both hands to the crowd to silence them.

"Thank you all for coming out this afternnon. the pressing issues up for discussion are issues that _must_ be acknowledged _and_, whats more, nedd solutions nthat will put a stop to the degeneration of our great nation. The mutant terror is real...and the dangers are real...( the crowd was so silent now that one could hear their baited breath). However, so is the solution. Our researchers have indeed identified the direct differences between man-kind and mutant-kind and I'm pleased to say that with this information we've begun development on a machine that will eliminate the mutant gene, and can do so in just a mtter of minutes."

The silence was replaced with questions and clicks of camera shutters. Hartland raised his hands once more and the noise began to die down again. He pointed to Bekah Steele, who'd been stubbornly holding her hand high in the air. even after everyone else had lowered theirs to hear the rest of what Hartland had to say.

"How?" She asked bluntly.

"Pardon me?"

"How will the machine work?" Bekah held her mic as close to Hartland as she could. He licked his lips and shuffled around some papers.

"We've found a harmless bacteria that travels through the air and, whiloe ineffective to humans, can seek out mutants and irradicate the bacteria gene tht causes mutantism. We can release the bacteria into the air and it will do the rest with little to no human aid."

again the hysteria errupted.

"Will it truely be harmless to the mutants?"" a stout man shouted above the rest.

"I'm able to say no, we do not have any reason to believe it will."

Lucas Hartland shifted his weight. A fairly fit man of around 44, he'd spent most of his life behind podiums and in stuffy offices pouring over bills and propostiotions to better his country. Some were succesful, some not. Some weren't really for the benefit fo the nation, but for people like Lucas so that their wallets would remain suuficently thick. Now he'd decided it would be he who would be responsible for ridding the US of the mutants- the weed amongst the roses. Frankly, he could care less whether or not his solution will "harm" them or not. He'd told the truth when he'd said there was no reason to believ it. He only hoped.

"In one week-" Hartland continued, "Bill 741, also kown as "Hartland's Bill" , will go before congress. If passed, it will call for the immediate activaction of the machine and begin the clensing. At this time, I'll open the floor for qustioning."

Some miles away, Proffesor Xavier and his finest pupils sat rigid in their seats. Storm snorted her disgust and flipped the T.V. off with the remote.

"He speaks as if we were a plague." Kurt mummbled. He sat on the floor, knees pulled tightly against his chest. Around him, Storm, Scoot and the Proffesor felt unnerved in their seats. Even the Proffesor knew no good was to come from this man.

"Us a plague?!?! What of the one he's trying to unleash on us?" Storm thundered. "He says this bacteria won't be dangerous, but what if he's wrong? It could be very harmful, bot just for mutants but for everyone else as well! If he releases it, we'll all be subjected to it. There's no telling what the consequences may be. Ooo! How can people be so selfish?" Scott patted Storm's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Storm's right. I fear there's more than meets the eye with this bacteria. I'm unsure of the intentions of dear Lucas Hartland. With any luck, the bill will be denied. If not, we have a week to find out all we can about this bacteria and the machine that launches it."

There was a knock on the Proffesor's door. Nadja entered timidly after the Proffesor invited her in. Se smiled at everyone and saw Kurt sitting in the floor. She gave a more confident smile to him and a quick wave. Kurt felt his mouth curl into a awkward grin as he retuned the wave.

"Ah, and how have you been lately, miss Nadja?" The Proffesor smiled. Nadja shifted uncomfortably. She was embarrased enough to tell the Proffesor of her nightmare, but she definetly had not expected to have to tell her othe instructors as well. And Kurt. She'd planned on finding him and telling him te story anyway. After all, aside from Nadja, he'd been the only one she'd really connected with. The connection was not the same. Indeed, Faydrey had felt swomething more of a love for Kurt. Like a sister would love a brother, she'd imagined.

"Um, I'd had something I wanted to talk to you about, Sir. " Nadja's voice was very small. She glanced down at the floor and tried to calm nerve. Luckily, the Professor picked up on her anxiety and asked excused everyone so that he could speak with Nadja alone. They did as asked (Kurt rather reluctantly). When the room had cleared, Nadja took a seat and a deep breath.

"What's troubling you, dear? Anything I can help with?" The professor asked. His face had a soft expression, like that of a wise old monk educated in the teaching of the years. Nadja explained her dream in as much detail as she could. Since last night she'd forgotten some of the smaller detail, however the agony was fresh in her mind.

"Sector 11? Are you sure that's what he said?" The Professor asked. Nadja nodded.

"it was a muffled voice but I'm very sure of what it had said. What does it mean? I know it's not just a bad dream, but i don't know what to make of it either." Nadja ighed. She paused and wondered what it would be like to be normal. To have parents and go to a normal high school. Or even to have lived on a small farm in Moscow. But she'll never known that life. Not now, not ever.

"I'm not sure at this time what to make ofit all. However, I think the best thing for you to do now is to keep a log of all your dreams. It may help you to deal with them or even make them less often. Most important of all it seems your dreams hold keys and information that will prove vauable in keeping you safe...and the rest of us for that matter. I wonder if perhaps you have some esp based powers as well as your invisability." The Pofessor seemed to get lost in thought momentarily, but he come back to and reassured Nadja.

"I'll do that, Professor. I can show you my documentations ever week, if you'd like." Nadja didn't know how writting things like that down would help. She knew she'd never open the book save to down her dreams. Other than that she felt the things whe'd seen in her mind last night should never be written, much less read.

"Weekly may be too loose. Lets try every morning."

Kurt sat in his room, curtains drawn and candles lit. He was concerned about nadja, but then again, when was he ever NOT concerned about her. He coudn't understand why, but she was always in his thoughts. Night and day. And he was ashamed to admit it, but he'd even had sexual fantasies with her in them. He pushed them aside. For one thing, he felt a awful peign of guilt for his lust...and for another he supposed to be protecting her, not taking her on dates and drooling over her. If he's not careful something could happen to her.

Kurt stretched out on his bed. His blue skin, pulled taught over muscles and bone, was covered in scars. His own punishment for his trespasses. he closed his eyes and relaxed and drifted off to a slumber which, dispite his prior train of thoghts, was filled with Nadja's face.


	7. Moving into Play

The next day students of the academy awoke to grey and gloomy skies. Nadja found herself wishing she could curl back up beneath her comforter and try to find some way to make up for the previous sleepless night.

"Wakey wakey..."Faydrey's chipper voice chimed in her ear. Faydrey was a serious case of a"Morning Person". She was always up before sunrise, reading or finishing up homework she hadn't felt like doing the night before. In a way, Nadja envied her for it, but then she remembered how tired she was and decided she liked sleep better.

Nadja wasn't the only one feeling down. By second period,Remey's nerves were very nearly shot. If Monica didn't quit her nagging Remey was sure he was going to send her through a wall. He hadn't even liked her to begin with. But that was never an issue to Remey. He had been known as a womanizer but really everyone had him pinned wrong. At least, he thought they did.

Remey had long stopped listening to Storm's lesson. He could care less about grammer right now. On the top of his notes he began sketch.

"I just appreciate women, that's all. Not that all the girls he'd dated were women. Some might pass as one, but just barely. Most were still unsure of themselves. In front and to the left of him Nadja sat in her desk. She'd fashioned a pillow out of her jacket and, with her arms wrapped around the makeshift pillow in a cozy embrace, she slept. She was sound asleep,mouth ever so slightly agape. Watching her, he had thought to himself how soft and sweet she looked. Most of the time she seemed so tense, but then again he never really got a chance to converse. Monica made sure of that. But he was never told he couldn't look.

"Nadja. Sweety, you need to wake up." Storm had given her a little shake to rouse her. Nadja blinked, bright purple peering out from beneath heavy eye lids. Remey noticed her cheeks were a little flushed. They were a pleasent peachy color that matched her lips and made her eyes stand out even more.

"exotic little thing...In a weird a colorful exotic bird." Remey chuckled to himself. Nadja was very pretty, though, and he always talked to the pretty girls. It was about time that Monica learned her place anyways. And her place was far away from Remey.

When Storm had made her way back up to the black board and started writing some practice sentences for them to copy, Remey instead began to write a letter. He glanced up at Nadja. She rubbed her eyes and tried to write down the sentences, unaware of anyone was even paying attention to her at all.

Remey wasn't the only one, however, interested in the girl. Magento sat, deep in thought, in his comfy chair. His metallic instruments whirling and clicking together rythmathically on his desk. His time was running out. The week was coming to a close and it was still an unsure thing whether or not Hartland's Bill will be passed. He needed to move and he needed to move quickly. Sabertooth was out recruiting a few "good men" to help with the next step of action, but to Magneto's displeasure, Sabertooth was takeing longer than originally planned. Lucky for Sabertooth there was still time to spare, but not much.

Magento's glances would frequently dart toward the entrance of his "office". He felt himslef growing anxious. It was clear now that his old friend Charles had discovered a vital part of his plan and kid napped the russian girl before he himself could but that hadn't worried Magento...until now. It won't be long before Charles gets a bit nervous himself and moves the girl elsewhere. With enough time Magneto could eliminate that possabilty but time was slipping away. Anxiety turning rapidly to anger, he grabbed one of his instruments from his desk and flung it against the wall to his left, causing it to crash loudly to floor, metallic echos filled the room. It was at that moment that Sabertooth walked into the room, ferril eyes fixed upon the broken metal mess.

"You're late. Lucky for you you came in after the fact or that may very well have been your head." Magneto took a deep breath and straightened out his shirt jacket before gently taking a seat in his chair. Magneto's looks were decieveing. Sitting there behind his desk one might think of him as a frail old man, not too weak, but definetly not capable of what he truely posseses. If his body lied about his power, his eyes told the truth. They seemed to swim with power, and right now those powerful eyes were fixed upon Sabertooth. Sabertooth was not afaraid of the old man, though. Besides, he had brought the old man something that would please him.

From behind Sabertooth a figure had emerged from the shadows. He wore a dark suit with a red and gold tie addorned with a small american flag pin. His hair was a deep auburn color combed over ontop of his head. A man of late thrities, Lewis Maynard stood proudly beside Sabertooth. Magneto's attention turned attentively toward Maynard now, sureprised at his new visitor.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Maynard. What brings _you_ to my humble abode?" Magneto stood up from his seat and held out a hand to the politician. Maynard grinned a sly grin and took the offering. " Last I heard you were running around chasing Hartland's tail. Does he know you're off talking to mutant strangers?"

"He'll know soon enough. I'm intrigued by your work and i figured we could help each other with each other's causes." Magneto's anxiety was slowly washing away. He had a feeling he was about to be more on track than he was expecting now.

Kurt Wagner's pace was hastened, his eyes focused and alert to any and every movement. The school was quiet right now wile the grounds were buzzing with excitment and noise. The students were having their last break of the day before final period. The empty rooms made it easier to find what he was looking for. He opened door after door, closet after closet. he would sit up in a corner of the room, legs and arms braced against the conjoining walls and watch for any lifted edges of carpet or opening doors, chairs scooting. Thus far he'd been quite frustraited. He'd checked all of the school designated by the Proffesor as practice grounds but Nadja was no where to be seen. Over the last week she'd really been working hard on controlling her powers and it would appear to Kurt she'd done a nice job. He'd seen neither hide nor hair of her anywhere.

"okay, Nadja... i give. I honestly have no idea whether or not you're even in the same room as me. For all I know you could have sneaked out onto the grounds and left me to seach aimlessly." Kurt dropped from the corner and looked around for a sign of his friend. From behind him a tiny finger tapped his shoulder. He jumped and turned simultaniously only to find that Nadja was behind him, smiling quite jubilantly.

"There you are. Great job. Where were you?" Kurt asked puzzled. Nadja beamed.

"I was behind you the entire time...well, when you were on the ground I was behind you. But Really I never left your side. You counted to 100 and I waited until you were done and started looking for me. Then I just followed your footsteps. It was hard to contain myself, though, everytime you thought you'd seen something my heart fluttered." Nadja took a hold of Kurt's hand and pulled him towards the door. Kurt followed obidiently. His face drooped.

"So you had fun fooling me." He tried to push away the small twinge in his stomach. Nadja felt dumb for being so careless with her words.

"No no, Kurt! I was just excited because I really am getting better at useing my powers...i called it a power! I'm starting to feel better about my talent...not ashamed of my defects." Nadja thought back to the brothel. Kasimir always called her defective.

"If Kasimir would have been here he would have beaten me black and blue for revealing my differences. 'Bad for business' he would tell me." Nadja's purple eyes suddenly grew sparkly and deep. Pools of remembered torment and pain staring blankly at the floor.

"What that man made you do was not business. It was evil. What you do with your body is your own business." Kurt felt a heat rising up in his chest to his face. He wasn't used to these emotions- Hatred and anger, but remembering the state they had found Nadja in and the manb who raised her...it was a tender subject to both of them.

"Well, I really should be thankful to him for something (_Kurt scoffed)_. No really, he took me in off the streets when my mother died." Nadja's sad eyes now twinkled. She grinned at Kurt, her teeth peeking out form behind her peachy lips.

"Did you know your mother well?" Kurt asked. Nadja turned left and opened a heavy door leading outside. Kurt followed.

"No. She died when I was really farthest back I can remember is when I was five. I'd alwasy been at the brothel, though. I"d never seen any other walls other than those walls." She squinted against the sunlight but now seemed happy to have so much freedom now.

"I'm sorry, Nadja." Kurt said, tongue twisted too much to say anything else.

"Thank you but I'm not. I'm grateful. Grateful to have been able to be rescued from such a dreadful place by you and your friends. I don't think I things would have been the same if I had lived a different life. Maybe you never would have found me and I would never have come to this place and made the friends I've made. So thank you, Kurt." Nadja smiled. She turned toward him, lightly grabbed a hold of his shoudlers and, pulling him down to him level, lightly placed a kiss upon his cheek. He felt his eyes grow huge momentarily, then he reagined his composure.

"Uh, well, you know, it was the Proffesor who sent us. You should really be thanking him more so than me." Kurt stood up stock straight and placed Nadja back onto her feet on level ground and put a foot between them. Nadja felt the awkwardness of the moment and wondered now if she had done something wrong. Kurt knew this was her train of thought but before he could do anything to correct it the bell to announce final period sounded and the ground bean to vibrate with students scattering to get to their lockers and classes. Nadja gave a smaller grin then she had before.

"I've got to go. Uh, thank for all your help today." and while in his mind,Kurt saw himself taking a quick hold of her arm, pulling her into the tightest embrace she had ever been in, and locking his lips with hers, her body melting into his arms. This isn't how he reacted, however, and instead could only watch as she flitted off towards her next class, confused and probably a little ashamed of her actions.

As the sun began to set over the moutains, Proffesor Xavier made his way to the heart of the school. Behind false walls and security mechanisms matched only by the White House's, Charles searched for the ones who could possibly help him fight the bill being proposed by Lucas Hartland. So far his search was pretty mundane. Nothing out of the ordinary and nothing helpful. Just then, Xavier paused. His little becans were blinking in his mind, voices softly whispering. His intuition had picked on something sinister amonst the crowd, though. He was sure he'd heard something about the school. He steadyied his breathing and concentraited on the voices, pin-pointing the threat's where abouts. They were close.

"They've come earlier than I expected."Charles excalimed. He placed his helmets covered in various wires and tubes down in it's proper place and headed back up into the school to call his team to action. "They'll try to take Nadja", he thought, "of that I'm certain. But who are they? The signal was strong, but scrambled. He'd never known of someone being able to scramble a metaphysical signal. He only hoped that this didn't mean trouble.


End file.
